All parents/carers with EAL have the right to the services of an interpreter. Interpreters booked through ASN Outreach Service are funded centrally by Stirling Council rather than from establishment budgets. While many bilingual parents and carers may have good social English skills, the complex vocabulary used in formal education meetings (e.g. enrolment and staged intervention) can lead to confusion. Using interpreters can also give schools important information to plan the next steps in a bilingual child’s learning via parents or by assessing the child’s skill in their first language(s).

Meetings requiring interpreter services should be planned well in advance as it may take some time to arrange the service. Interpreters can be booked through ASN Outreach by completing the request form (see below) and emailing to asnoutreach@stirling.gov.uk Establishments can also request that the interpreter telephones the parent/carer to confirm the meeting.

Some parents/carers are happy to use friends or family members as interpreters during meetings but, if the meeting is important and perhaps dealing with confidential or sensitive issues, it is advisable to use an impartial, trained interpreter who will be fluent in both required languages. It is not appropriate for the pupils themselves or a sibling to be used as an interpreter in meetings.